Candle in the Wind
by Tuna Salad Sonnet
Summary: -Drabble dump, various topics.- 5: In which Katara and Mai have a perfectly good reason for fighting. Really. Mai/Zuko/Katara.
1. Morning Practice

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _Avatar: The Last Airbender _or any related characters. This was written out of enjoyment of the series, and no profit is being made.

**_Ships: _**(Friendship) Mostly - Zuko/Aang. Mentions - Zuko/Iroh, Aang/Kuzon. (Romance) Mentions - Zuko/Katara, Toph/Aang.  
**_Warnings: _**None, unless terribly OOC Zuko counts. X) And spoilers up to Episode 26, "The Blind Bandit", I guess.  
**_Other Info: _**Takes place after Zuko and Iroh join the Gaang.

* * *

**Morning Practice**

Zuko breaks the twigs he's holding into pieces, just small enough for a twelve-year-old Avatar to ignite, but just big enough to try some more difficult firebending moves.

It has been two weeks since Zuko and his uncle escaped his sister. But this tale is not of that escape, but is a much simpler story of a teacher and his student.

Of course, by the time they escaped Azula, Zuko realized that maybe, just maybe, joining the Avatar and teaching him firebending would be a good thing to do. Maybe.

So for two weeks, Zuko, his uncle, the Avatar, and his friends had been switching between running away and teaching. And much to Zuko's surprise, he found he didn't hate teaching the twelve-year old as much as he thought.

Granted, Aang's jokes and tricks, and constant attempts at impressing Katara could get on his nerves, (the latter he didn't quite know why), but all the same, he wasn't a bad kid. One day, Katara had quietly mentioned that Aang lost the closest thing he had to a father to the Fire Nation, and Zuko realized the two had more in common then they thought. (Neither had a father, after all.)

Besides, they made a good team. And now when he worked with them, he didn't have to hide behind a blue oni mask. He liked that, oddly enough.

So now he waits for Aang to walk into the clearing to start their morning practice.

…He's late.

Zuko settles into a sitting position. He hopes he's not talking to Katara. Every sentence he says to her gets stretched out to three times as long as it would take a normal person to say, due to the airbender's habit of stuttering and starting over. (There's another reason he's hoping the Avatar isn't talking to her, but he hasn't been able to pinpoint it.)

Finally, many minutes later, Aang comes in to the clearing. His eyes are droopy, and he yawns. "Good morning, Sifu Zuko."

Zuko raises an eyebrow. "You look tired," he observes.

"Uh…yeah." Aang yawns and sits across from the pile of small twigs. He notices this and says, "Twigs?"

Zuko's lips twist up a little at the corners. "I think we'll try something different today. But don't get too excited. Sokka told me what happened with Jeong-Jeong."

Aang smiles, but his eyes show regret over the mention of the past hurt to his waterbending teacher. It had taken a couple of days for them to convince Aang to try firebending again. But somehow, they had done it. Maybe it was that Uncle's tea, or that conversation with Toph, or a strange dream he had had the night before he announced he was ready. (He swore he heard the Avatar whisper "Kuzon" in his sleep.) But it didn't really matter.

So now he starts to explain the lesson. "Today, I'm going to teach you how to focus spiritual energy from the sun. Now, I hope you and Uncle haven't been playing around _too _much when you have those meditating sessions-" He looks up. His student is asleep, chin resting on his chest, snoring.

Zuko rolls his good eye and gets up. He squats next to the sleeping airbender and taps him on the shoulder. "Aang, _Aang. _You fell asleep."

His student wakes up and blinks sleepy gray eyes at him. "Oh, sorry Zuko." He yawns. "I went over some waterbending techniques with Katara late last night and…" He yawns again.

Zuko looks at him, frowning. The poor kid can't catch a break can he?

"Look, you know what? We can over this at noon. The sun will be higher at that point. You can go back to sleep."

Aang is awake now. "What? We can't do that! You have to teach me!"

The teenager glares. "No. Besides, a man needs his rest." (_You haven't had one since you found out you were the Avatar,_ he almost says.)

The boy grins. "You just got that from Iroh."

His glare deepens. "Does it matter where I got it from? You're going to bed, and that's an order." He turns around and picks up the kindling. They could probably use it back at the camp.

"Alright, your majesty."

Aang earns a swift glare from the sixteen year old. The airbender swiftly realizes his mistake and looks deeply apologetic. He grits his teeth and whispers, "Sorry, Zuko."

Zuko straightens up and sighs. "I told you I don't like being called Prince."

"I know, I…kinda forgot." He gets up too and takes the kindling from the other boy's hands.

Zuko stares at the ground and says, "I like being just Zuko."

A hand is on his arm, and Aang grins. "I like you being Sifu Zuko, Zuko."

The teacher allows himself to grin at this little boy who has become his best friend. "I like being Sifu Zuko too, Aang."

The two friends grin at each other, when the airbender breaks and yawns.

Zuko chuckles and before he knows it, he is carrying the Avatar on his back again, although this time his tattoos aren't glowing and snow doesn't blow all around them. But he is asleep, just like last time.

As the firebender walks back to camp, the kindling falls to the forest floor leaving a path of broken twigs. Aang whispers a name in his sleep, and shifts on his back. He can almost feel the smile on his sleeping mouth (He swears the name is connected to a certain blind girl, but he'll ask him about it later).

Suddenly, he remembers a question the little boy had asked him a lifetime ago. "If we knew each other back then, do you think we could've been friends too?"

Now, when he finally has an answer, he doesn't need to say it. Because they both already knew.

* * *

**AN. **_Hooray for the invention of oneshot/drabble dumps! Otherwise I would never get this thing out of my hair! This is a failed attempt at a Zuko/Aang friendship thing, and something about it just bothered me. I think I made it too fluffy and made Zuko too OOC. What do you guys think?_

_Constructive criticism is always appreciated. Thanks for reading, and tell me what you think!_

_(PS, the rating may change due to later drabbles. I'm not sure.)_


	2. Clouded Sky

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _Avatar: The Last Airbender _or any related characters. This was written out of enjoyment of the series, and no profit is being made.

**_Ships: _**(Romance) Sokka/Yue, Sokka/Suki, Sokka/Ty Lee  
**_Warnings: _**Character death, angst. Spoilers up to Episode 36, "Appa's Lost Days".  
**_Other Info: _**Mentions of a hypothetical Season 3.

* * *

**Clouded Sky**

Ever since Yue disappeared into the oasis air, he wouldn't, couldn't stop staring at the moon. He knew the moon before, knews the masks it wore in a cycle. But now he knew every silvery streak that was painted across her surface. He could almost feel her footsteps in his heart as she walked up the Stairs of the Sky to take her place at night. And there she would stand, noble and beautiful and soft in the sky.

He supposes he's still protecting her, looking after her so much. She doesn't need protection so much anymore. She has all the stars.

When they found the Kyoshi Warriors bodies littered around the clearing, torn through with flames and blades, he stopped at Suki's. Her scars were a maze across her skin, and she was cold like the night.

Suki and her friends are the stars. They are small but sharp, and they never stop shining. They protect Yue. She protects them. He hopes they are friends.

Ty Lee joins them with the Prince and his uncle. She says that Uncle Iroh will need a Pai Sho partner, but it doesn't matter much, because she likes him. He has had too much heartbreak. She understands.

But the more they spend time together, the more he gets to like her, trust her. He decides that the Fire Nation isn't all bad after all.

It is when she pushes him out of the way of Azula's blue fire and takes the hit that he realizes he loves her. As he holds her, she smiles weakly, and says, "I'm sorry." He doesn't hear that. He hears Yue's words from the swamp.

"You didn't protect me."

She's the sun now. She shines like the stars and the moon, but she is a little different. Maybe she exchanges words with Yue when one climbs down from the Celestial Staircase and the other climbs up. Maybe she is a little lonely without stars.

He hates the clouds, because they keep him from the sky. They keep him from who he loves, from the memories of happiness. But then he remembers that no matter how high he flies on Appa, he can never touch them.

That is when he loves the clouds, when they hide the sky. It hurts too much to remember.

* * *

**AN. **_Poor Sokka. He's a great guy and all...but I couldn't resist this when it popped into my head one day, and I had to run to my computer and type it before it flitted away! I feel really bad now, for making him go through all that. _

_Something bothered me about this fic, so I didn't want to submit it as a drabble on it's own, but I don't know why. Do you guys think I should take this out of the dump and put it into it's own story? _

_Constructive criticism is always appreciated. Thanks for reading, and tell me what you think!_


	3. MakeUp

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _Avatar: The Last Airbender _or any related characters. This was written out of enjoyment of the series, and no profit is being made.

**_Ships: _**(Romance) Toph/Aang (Friendship) Toph/Katara  
**_Warnings: _**None, unless horribly OOC Toph counts. XD  
**_Other: _**Takes place during Episode 35, Tales of Ba Sing Se, after the Tale of Toph and Katara.

* * *

**Make-Up**

Toph had said that she liked feeling girly, but only if Katara was the one she was feeling girly with. It wasn't as bad with Katara, not like with her mother, because she knew that she and Katara could still kick butt.

There was one thing she didn't like about being girly with Katara though. Aang.

Just last night, she and Katara had gotten dressed up. When Katara had finished applying the make-up to her face and they put on the headdresses, she had felt oddly at peace with being girly. Then they got out the fans. And they stepped out, and she heard Aang and Sokka stop whatever goofy game they were playing. And then Aang said, (and she felt the little pulse that she knew was his heart beat faster,) "You look beautiful."

And then suddenly, she just _knew_ that he was talking about her, Toph, the girl who joked around like a _guy_.

But then she remembered the sisterly figure above her, and remembered how he acted goofy around _her_. The knowledge, the sureness that Aang had called her beautiful flew out the window. Either he was calling her beautiful or saying it to both of them to be polite. But good ol' Twinkle Toes can only pass for a bus-boy. He can only be expected to be polite to the guests, then sneer to the cook that his feet is killing him. (And being polite to the chef _does_ counts.)

So, logically, he must be calling Katara beautiful.

That was part of the reason she was apprehensive about going to that spa with Katara. The only way she would ever put on make-up was if Katara would go with her, and if Katara _and_ she wore make-up, then Aang would always, always, _always_ notice Katara over her.

But she relented, for who knows why. Katara wasn't so bad, once you got past the whole sweety-cutesy act. She made for a nice sister, especially after sticking up to her from those mean, jerk-face girls.

On the way back to their apartment, Katara decided to pick up some groceries in the market. Soon, Katara and Toph's arms were laden with paper bags containing fresh fruit, vegetables, fish and bread. Toph sighed as they neared the little house.

"Something wrong, Toph?" Katara asked quietly.

"Nah," Toph waved a bag dismissively. "Just kinda tired. This girly stuff is exhausting."

Katara chuckled. "Exhausting in a good way, though." Her voice was uncertain, unsure if Toph agreed.

Toph smiled at her. "Yeah, in a good way."

The two girls smiled at each other and continued walking.

Katara somehow managed to slide the door open with her shoulder, and called within. "Boys, we got lunch!"

Aang turned around from sitting on the railing around the resting area, and his eyes scanned their painted faces, his face turning slightly red. "Whoa! Where did you guys go?"

Toph put down the bags and chose to remain silent. He's probably looking at Katara anyway, she figures.

Katara smiled at the younger boy. "The spa. You like it?"

Aang opened his mouth, blushing, ready to say something in response, when he caught Toph in the corner of his eye. She looked oddly...sad. Aang's brain suddenly forgot what it was planning to say. "Uh, yeah, you look...beautiful."

Toph quietly bit her lip. _There he goes again._

Katara grinned. "Thanks Aang. Now where's Sokka? I'm gonna teach him what it's like to cook for you guys every day." She wandered off towards the kitchen, her arms still laden with cooking supplies.

Aang slipped off the railing and strode lightly over to Toph, who was pretending to organize the bags. The light footsteps only reminded her of last night, when she wasn't sure if that faster heartbeat was due to her or Katara entering the fray.

"Um, Toph?" He asked, and she could hear from his voice that he was nervous.

"Yeah, Twinkle Toes?" She tried to load her arms full of the paper bags, but he took some of them from her arms, lessening her load. Normally she would've chastised him for helping her, but it wasn't the first thought in her mind. They started walking toward the kitchen to witness Sokka's torture session.

"I know I said it earlier, but you look...beautiful."

He smiled awkwardly and looked away, forgetting that she didn't know what blush looked like. Toph certainly knew what it felt like though, as she can feel the uncomfortable heat rise to her cheeks.

He laughed quietly. "It's weird, but I've gotten to see you in make-up for two days in a row... And you're really pretty."

Toph realized suddenly that even though his heart was beating a little faster, his breathing sounded perfect. _He isn't lying._

The young airbender stopped just short of the kitchen door, where they heard a half-asleep Sokka wondering why Katara was brandishing an apron at him. "I just..." He smiled at her, at a loss for words, "You're really, _really_ pretty."

She gasped when she finds his lips on her cheek. How did she not hear him coming?

They blushed and stood with silent smiles for a little bit. "Thank you," Toph whispered in a voice too soft to be hers.

"Your welcome," Aang whispered back.

The two walked into the kitchen, and luckily enough, Katara and Sokka are too busy being distracted by cooking lessons to notice that a patch of make-up is missing from Toph's cheek.

* * *

**AN. **_Dumped because I think Toph is OOC. And it was sorta confusing from my point of view._

_Constructive criticism is always appreciated. Thanks for reading, and tell me what you think!_

_(PS. To any Sailor Moon fans, I started watching the original Japanese episodes this year, and now, everytime I think of/read this title, I think of "(Transformation Name), Maaaaaaaaake-UP!" Sorry, I had to get that off my chest. XD)_


	4. Dreams

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _Avatar: The Last Airbender _or any related characters. This was written out of enjoyment of the series, and no profit is being made.

**_Ships: _**(Friendship) Mostly - Aang/Kuzon. Mentions - Aang/Gyatso.  
**_Warnings: _**Somewhat mentions a severe burn at the end, but none otherwise. Spoilers up to Episode 13, "The Blue Spirit"?

* * *

**Dreams**

Aang has always had strange dreams. Dreams of faces he's never seen and voices he doesn't remember. They always confused him, until that day where the monks told him he was the Avatar.

He supposed it made sense, the forgotten faces and voices and smudges of memories that were there. When he awoke from his sleep, he would think about this seriously, wondering whether he had forgotten all of them already. Then Sifu Gyatso came in with a warm cup of tea, and nothing really mattered anymore.

Waking up from a hundred year nap after sleeping in a bed of ice wasn't exactly the same. It turns out he hadn't dreamed in a century, and his pent-up memories were determined to catch up with him.

Aang wasn't particularly thrilled.

x

_The sunlight filters through Fire Nation trees as Aang rides the air scooter beneath him through the forest. "You'll never catch up with me Kuzon!" he shouts over his shoulder._

_Kuzon glares and pinches the side of the ostrich with his heels. "C'mon girl! We can't lose to a bald kid!"_

_Aang laughs and sticks his tongue out in determination. His air scooter takes on a burst of speed and he hears Kuzon's ostrich run faster over the dusty ground. But it's too late for _him_. Aang has emerged from the forest into the expansive hills of long grass. He has won the race out of the forest._

"_Ha ha!" he shouts, jumping off the scooter into the air, hovering. He sticks his tongue out at the slightly older boy who emerges from the forest. "Too late Kuzon!"_

_The boy glares. "It's no fair. You airbenders are too fast."_

_Aang takes on a mockingly thoughtful pose. "Why yes, I _do _believe we're fast."_

_Kuzon's glare turns into a grin. "Now come on down. My mom's gonna kill me if we don't get back in time for tea."_

x

_The ostrich's feet pad quietly and rhythmically against the soft dirt road. Wind blows across the fields of Kuzon's huge property. The older boy's long hair, held in a ponytail, blows softly backwards. Aang likes how he and Kuzon can play games and chase like he and Bumi can, but the two can just sit in silence like he can with Gyatso._

"_So," Kuzon says to the boy walking beside him, "how you taking this Avatar business?"_

_Aang bites his lip. He wished his friend hadn't said anything. "I don't know. I'm worried about it."_

_Kuzon raises his eyebrows. "Worried? About what? You get to have all kinds of fun." He lets go of the reins and punches the air. "I wish I could airbend."_

"_It's not just fun!" Aang says more loudly than he means to._

_Kuzon blinks, surprise ringing in his eyes. The ostrich tosses its head and stops._

_Aang looks at the dirt around his shoes forlornly. The two friends are silent._

"_Sorry." Aang takes the reins and pulls gently. The ostrich starts to walk again._

"_Aang," Kuzon says gently._

_Aang flinches inwardly, and he suddenly becomes interested in a cloud on the horizon. He hears Kuzon sigh behind him. "I know when something is bothering you, Aang."_

"_I'm worried I'll never have fun again, okay? I know it's selfish and all that, but – but its how I feel!" Aang blurts out, turning and glaring at the Fire Nation boy. The ostrich stops again._

_Kuzon is surprised, but he smiles. "Aang, of course you'll have fun." He slips off the back of the ostrich and takes the reins from Aang's hands. "You wanna know why?"_

_Aang glances desperately up at him. "Why?"_

_Kuzon can't help but grin. "'Cause when the time comes, I'll teach you firebending."_

_Aang stares in shocked silence, and misses Kuzon starting to walk away with his ostrich. He jogs lightly to catch up with him. "Are you serious?" His voice betrays his intent to not sound too excited._

_Kuzon grins. "'Course."_

_Aang can't help but smile, and a little hope glints into his dejected heart._

_Then why, why, _why _did his dream have to ruin the happy memory with Kuzon's screams of pain?_

_Why, two, maybe three seconds, after the gloriously golden memory does Kuzon's face become engulfed in flame?_

_Why does the left side of his face suddenly become raw and red and hard? And why is he suddenly staring into Prince Zuko's eyes?_

x

Aang always wakes up gasping from this dream. He pants, sucks in the air that bends to his will in his huge lungs. Eventually, he settles back down, but before he closes his eyes, he always marvels at how similar Zuko and Kuzon's names are.

* * *

**AN. **_Dumped because this was originally supposed to be a series of Aang's dreams. That little intro at the beginning was a prologue, but then I realized I didn't really know what other dreams I could write about._

_This is no doubt my favourite scrap so far. I love the Zuko/Kuzon reincarnation theory, because, well... I like to put this way: Friendship is my slash. And the Blue Spirit was the first episode I really saw of this show, so I've been hooked on Zuko/Aang friendship before I was hooked on Taang, my OTP. So when I heard that Kuzon is going to have an important role is S3, you bet I was gleeing. (/rant)_

_Constructive criticism is always appreciated. Thanks for reading, and tell me what you think!_


	5. Garden Party

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _Avatar: The Last Airbender _or any related characters. This was written out of enjoyment of the series, and no profit is being made.

_**Spoilers: **_Episode 23 - Return to Omashu.  
_**Ships: **_**(Romance)** Mai/Zuko/Katara. If you squint.  
_**Other Info:**_ After the war ends.

* * *

**Garden Party**

She exhales ice, feels the cold travel out of her lungs and into the air, leaving crystals on her windpipe. She pulls water out of the fountain nearby, lets it thin and speed up so it reaches razor speed. She pushes it but lets it pull her, calm in fury, blue ribbons of ice arching and spinning through the air.

But her opponent is no pushover, sliding over the great waves of ice with perfect control. The knives cut the air so quickly it burns with the song of metal birds, shattering ice and water likes panes of glass. She'll have her opponent thinking that it's all over, she's run out of ammunition, until the dark haired woman with chilled gold in her eyes manages to retrieve an iron feather imbedded in the skin of a stone dragon.

And then the air is filled with the terrifying magic that is their battle once more.

"...But they're definitely not fighting over you," Jet said, from the safe zone under the gazebo.

"Um," Zuko said. He sipped his tea and tried to look inconspicuous.

"Definitely not."

* * *

**AN.** A sudden urge to write a fight scene hit me one day. Annnnnnd yeah.

Jet lives, I say! (Also: Mai/Jet/Katara/Zuko is my OT4.)


End file.
